Spectroscopic investigation of the plasma in a hollow anode with an incorporated ferroelectric plasma source

Spectroscopic measurements are reported of the plasma formed inside a hollow anode (HA) with a ferroelectric plasma source (FPS) incorporated in it. The HA was used as a cathode in a diode supplied by an accelerating pulse (≤300 kV, ≤400 ns). It was found that the HA discharge (1.2 kA, 10 μs) is accompanied by the formation of a dense (≅8x1014 cm-3) plasma layer at the surface of the FPS. This surface plasma serves as a practically unlimited source of electrons. In the bulk of the HA plasma the density is ≅3x1013 cm-3 and it remains the same during the accelerating pulse whereas the plasma electron temperature increases from 4 to 11 eV